It’s time to ask for help

The NFL, the most powerful entity in sports, is missing its target when it comes to educating players and fans about the lasting effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI).

The James Harrisons and Jonathan Vilmas of the world who cling to the archaic notion that anesthetizing an opponent with a violent hit to the head is somehow “part of the game” or worthy of locker room praise set the game back and demonstrate total ignorance with their brazen defiance of league policies as they relate to head hunting.

This week Junior Seau, perhaps the greatest linebacker of the past 25 years, took his own life. It’s possible we will never know what drove a man who seemingly had everything to leave his family and friends by shooting himself in the chest. It is beyond tragic.

During his 20 year career Seau was never listed on an official injury report as having a head injury though people close to him say he did in fact experience numerous concussions which comes as no surprise to anyone who has seen even ten seconds of a football game at any level.

Understand that I am not trying to portray myself as a doctor nor do I claim to know why Seau committed suicide. But there is a strong possibility that TBI had something to do with it.

Even if the correlation is at best weak the subject deserves greater scrutiny and public awareness as to the effects of multiple head injuries.

Here’s where the NFL could benefit from asking for help; something that ironically Seau didn’t know how to do, was too proud to do, or was too overcome to do.

Every Sunday NFL games feature the military’s presence. Military jet flyovers, men and women in uniform holding a field sized American flag during the national anthem, soldiers as honorary coin tossers, etc. are all common place.

To many of our nation’s soldiers Seau’s story is an all too familiar one. TBI, known as the signature wound of the Afghan and Iraqi wars, is having lasting effects on thousands of veterans and their families across our country.

It has been widely reported for several years that the military still struggles to diagnose TBI so by no means am I suggesting that they have all the answers but what they do have are the personal stories of soldiers and in many tragic cases experiences of family members left behind.

It’s obvious that today many former football players and veterans are losing their battles with TBI. It’s a shame and deserves more attention from the public, elected officials and the medical community.

For its part I wish the NFL would look to the men and women in uniform who so frequently appear on its playing fields across the country every Sunday as more than ceremonial flag bearers.

There is a lot the NFL can learn from military personnel beyond the values they espouse as soldiers.

I won’t claim to be an expert on the subject but it seems to me that the time is now for the league to look beyond its New York City offices for help in educating its players about the effects of TBI.

A partnership between the armed forces and the NFL could be a positive step towards addressing this crisis for players, veterans, their families for years to come.